“Your freedom.”
“Our freedom.” Devin rubbed Joe’s arms from shoulder to elbow and back again. “This is where our lives really start. I can find out who I am. Maybe I have family. Like grandparents, cousins. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”
A hollow opened inside Joe. His only hope for family was a man who’d left him behind and never come back. Devin, God, he could make a real life in New America, find where he belonged. All Devin needed Joe for was a safe way to get there.
“It’s pretty late. We should get back to Navarro’s.” Joe took Devin’s hand and tugged him away from the north. He gazed up at the heavens, counted the stars, and prayed.
TEN
Three days after they’d made it to Purcell, Flix sat inside Navarro and Liliana’s cozy home and tried to feed Marcus soup.
“I can feed myself.” Marcus reclined on the couch, his pale face shimmering with sweat. Flix had swiped the cushions off the other couch to use as bolsters and all but dragged him upright, but the exertion was too much for Marcus. His hands shook, and his pulse visibly fluttered in his thin neck.
“You almost died,” Flix said. “I was terrified. Let me take care of you, please?”
Marcus rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.
Flix smiled and spooned up another bite. While Marcus slurped a broth of jalapeños and corn, Flix watched with curiosity the mating ritual of the straight male teenager.
Peter sat at the kitchen table while Sadie worked at the stove. She stirred beans and cornmeal in a frying pan and rattled on about...well, Flix wasn’t sure what, but it sounded boring. Peter nodded his head and asked inane questions. And stared at Sadie’s butt.
Not so different after all.
“What are you doing?” Marcus asked.
Flix shushed him. “I’m watching Petey make an ass of himself.”
Marcus tilted his face toward the kitchen. When he turned around, he raised a brow. “Oh, like you do with Joe?”
Flix put on his pretend outrage. “I do not. I happen to appreciate his leadership skills.”
“Yeah, that is not what you appreciate about him, not unless he carries them in his back pocket.”
True. Joe’s ass looked amazeballs. But still. “I’m not doing that anymore.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes. “Since when?”
“Since you fell off that highway.” Flix shuddered as the image of Marcus going over the edge played unwanted in his mind. “I aged at least ten years.”
“You don’t think twenty-five-year-old guys check people out? I don’t wanna live that long if they don’t.”
“Don’t even joke.” Flix worked to keep his tone playful. Maybe someday he’d want to be frivolous again. “I think middle-aged people still look. I just have different priorities now.”
“Like feeding me soup? That’s dumbass, Fae.”
No, it wasn’t. And Marcus hadn’t used that nickname since they’d been pointy-eared eight-year-olds. Flix wasn’t biting.
Someone knocked on the door. Flix set the soup bowl on the small table behind Marcus and headed for the entry while Peter dashed into the bedroom where Devin napped. Liliana had told them that Devin and Peter were to stay out of sight when visitors came to the house. Flix didn’t see what it mattered since everyone in town had to know they were here.
He opened the door and Sanders pushed past him, supporting an injured man. Blood spurted from just above the man’s knee, drenching his torn pants and spattering the floor.
“Navarro!” Sanders yelled. “Navarro!”
Navarro and Joe burst from the back hallway. Navarro took one look and scowled. “God damn it. Take him in the back. Now.” He turned on his heel, and Sanders followed him.
Joe watched them go, then put a hand on Flix’s shoulder. “You know the drill.”
Flix nodded, then hurtled down the hall and into a bedroom.
Inside it, Devin rolled onto his side on the bed and rubbed his eyes. His breathing was heavy, and his t-shirt sleeves were shoved up to his shoulders. Flix knew Devin’s recovery from the trek was taking a while. He’d pushed himself hard to get Marcus to Purcell.
Quickly, Flix filled them in on what he’d seen. “Do you think we should be worried?”
Devin ran a hand through his hair and stretched. “When aren’t we worried? At least here, we have Navi and Lil to look out for us.”
Flix had hoped this town would provide safety, a place for Marcus to heal. Guys with guns and threats and bloody legs weren’t what he’d had in mind. “I need to get back to Marcus.”
The door burst open, and Sadie rushed through. She barreled over Flix, sending him back a few steps.
He grabbed her sturdy arms to keep from falling over. She studied his face, like she was seeing him properly for the first time. Maybe her vision was really that bad.
“Sorry, Flix.”
Flix dropped his hold on her, and she scooted onto the bed with Devin, at least until he hopped off it and held a pillow up to cover his underwear. Despite his earlier need to get back to Marcus, Flix found himself curious about whatever gossip Sadie might have. He peeked to make sure Marcus was fine, then closed the door and locked it.
“So is this a secret meeting, or what?” Sadie leaned toward Devin and scrunched her nose. “You really don’t need to hide, Muscles. Navi walks around in his boxers all the time, and he’s practically my dad.”
“I have a name,” Devin said. He nodded toward Flix. “Toss my pants, will you, Junior?”
Flix grumbled at the irony but retrieved Devin’s jeans from a chair and threw them over.
Sadie watched with far too much interest as Devin struggled hurriedly to dress, his pants catching on his big feet and getting twisted over his heavily muscled thighs.
Flix didn’t envy Devin the weight of her stare, but he did find it pretty amusing.
“Lili says that just because someone was a prostitute doesn’t mean they want to be ogled.” Sadie pushed her glasses up her nose. “I’m not trying to be rude. I’m curious, is all. And you don’t mind when Navi calls
